The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee won the Tony Award for Best Book in 2005. The name of the show is an accurate description of the story but don't let it fool you. Sure, it's about an elementary school spelling bee. But that simple plot line is quickly draped with the comedic antics of super-dysfunctional contestants.
This is a musical but the show is performance driven in the dialog rather than the songs. Each player turns in a great individual performance and the ensemble gels magnificently together. The actors are hysterically funny. Out of a stellar cast, Jesse Tyler Ferguson was the most entertaining as the character of Leaf Coneybear. [He's currently playing Richie on the television show The Class on CBS.]
Four audience members are selected in the lobby prior to each show to be active on-stage participants in the mock spelling bee. It makes each show unique and the cast members seem to feed off of this, using clever openings in the script to make witty ad lib comments about the novices in an effort to crack each other up.
All in all, this show was outstanding and far surpassed my expectations. I still laugh thinking about all of the characters' memorable idiosyncrasies.
The show is playing at the Circle In The Square Theatre. The venue has a modified theater-in-the-round layout with the actors performing in the center of a U-shaped seating area. The slope of the rows is steep so each seat is closer than normal to the stage. The sight lines are great — not a bad seat in the house!
1 comment:
Gavin! Mike de Seve here. What a thrill to see your name in my bro Jim's newsletter! So you're living in the area? How long has that been? Weren't you in Cali? (My girlfriend and I bought a house in the Burg and are fixing it up slowly though still in New York most of the week for work).
Do tell all. My email is mikedeseve@yahoo.com.
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